Barrow Raiders were knocked out of the Betfred Challenge Cup after a 32-6 defeat to York Knights at the Northern Competitions Stadium.

The Raiders ran their Super League opponents close for large parts of the game but fell away in the final quarter as York scored four tries and 18 points without reply.

Despite the difficult playing conditions, a quick start saw the visitors score twice inside the opening 15 minutes.

Toa Mata’afa opened the scoring with less than five minutes gone, before Nikau Williams was quickest to react to a bouncing ball in the corner to touch down soon after. Neither try was converted by Liam Harris, meaning the Knights led by eight.

What followed was a flurry of cards, both yellow and red, before any more points could be scored.

Midway through the first half, Ryan King was sent to the sin-bin for an alleged shoulder charge before York’s Jesse Dee was also sat down for 10 minutes shortly after following a mistimed tackle.

With emotions running high, tempers boiled over six minutes before half-time as a brawl erupted between both sets of players, and the outcome was a straight red card for both Greg Richards and York’s Paul McShane.

Then, just before half-time, the Raiders posted their opening points. After a chipped kick through, the ball was allowed to bounce and York failed to deal with the threat, with a loose offload being picked up by Luke Cresswell to score under the posts.

York dealt a killer blow on the stroke of the break, Jack Martin charging his way over to the right of the posts, and Harris’ conversion saw them extend their lead back to eight points.

It took until the hour mark for next points, with Williams going over for his second of the night to take York two converted tries clear.

Dee added another 10 minutes from time, before Oli Field and debutant Paul Vaughan added further gloss to the scoreline as the Raiders tired.

There is little time to dwell for Paul Crarey’s side, with a trip to Whitehaven coming up on Sunday 15 February (3pm kick-off). Tickets are available to buy here.

BARROW RAIDERS 6

Tries: Cresswell

Goals: B.Walker

YORK KNIGHTS 32

Tries: Mata’afa, Williams (2), Martin, Dee, Field, Vaughan

Goals: Harris, Williams

Post-match reaction

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